2020 in the rearview mirror
NEW YEAR’S EVE, to me, has always been an over-rated holiday. Why celebrate the passing of another year, especially when the first day of the new one is spent on the couch suffering the dull throb of a champagne headache? Then 2019 happened. I could not wait to kick it out the door – 2020 could only be better. Wrong. In a year that was a stocking full of coal, let’s find some holiday cheer.
It’s ironic that in 2020 when we celebrated the 100th anniversary of universal suffrage, our president made unsubstantiated claims of election fraud in a blatant attempt to disenfranchise voters in the general election. The good news is that 171 million eligible Americans surmounted the obstacles thrown in their way, including COVID19, to cast their ballots, and officials from both parties agreed that the election was the nation’s securest.
I’ll assume everyone knows Kamala Harris made history as the first woman, and woman of color, to be elected Vice President. Further good news is that Debra Haaland (D-NM), if confirmed by Congress, will be the first Native American, and only the fourth woman, to serve as Secretary of the Interior. A record 141 women will serve in the 117th Congress, including 51 women of color. Globally in 2020, 25 percent of legislative seats are held by women and we account for 22 percent of cabinet ministers. In 20 countries, most notably Germany and New Zealand, women are heads of state.
Costa Rica became the 28th country to legalize same-sex marriages, and Montenegro permitted same-sex civil unions. When sworn in January 2021 as a Delaware state senator, Sarah McBride will be the highest-ranking transgender official in United States history. Peter Buttigieg was the first openly-gay candidate to seek the Democratic nomination for president. Both in a year that saw more LGBTQ candidates running for office than ever before.
China, responsible for 28 percent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions, pledged to become carbon neutral by 2060. Indonesia and Vietnam committed to reducing marine plastic waste by 75 percent by 2025 and 2030, and Ghana pledged to create a 100 percent circular economy for plastics.
Joe Biden has proposed the most progressive climate strategy of any US president, a welcome change after four years of climate change denial and dirty fuel reliance by the outgoing administration. One of his first acts in office, Biden says, will be to rejoin the Paris Climate Agreement.
Signaling a departure from marketdriven forces (manufacturers will build electric cars when consumers demand them), Britain announced it will ban sales of new internal combustion engine vehicles by 2030, joining nations like France (2040), Slovenia (2030) and Norway (2025). California is the first U.S. state to require all new cars and passenger trucks have zero emissions by 2035. Washington and Hawaii may soon follow with their own ZEV requirements.
COVID-19 actually caused some good environmental news. In a domino effect, lockdowns meant decreased production, which meant decreased demand for power, which meant less expensive renewable sources like wind and solar could be used to meet energy needs. Animals took to the streets in locked-down cities around the world: penguins in Simonstown, South Africa; goats in Llandudno, Wales; cougars in Santiago, Chile; gazelles in Dubai, and wild boar in Haifa, Israel. In Thailand, turtles, whales and dugongs returned to coastal waters. And a zoo closure in Hong Kong gave pandas Ying Ying and Le Le the privacy they needed to make baby pandas.
In animal news unrelated to the pandemic, grey wolves will be reintroduced in Colorado, private zoos (think Joe Exotic) came under legal fire, and my personal favorite, wildlife officials in Florida busted the largest flying squirrel trafficking ring in the U.S. The furry creatures were smuggled to Korea where they were sold as pets.
For me personally, the bright spot of 2020 has been St. James Food Pantry. I went there in May for a story about heroes of the pandemic and have been volunteering every Thursday since. What could be better than giving back to my community while hanging out with people of all ages, ethnicities and faiths whom I may otherwise never have met? I’m my best self when I’m there (I hear my fellow volunteers: Really? That’s your best self?)
The highlight for a friend is a cousin’s What’s App group chat initiated in March. It’s made her feel a part of that side of her family for the first time. “It’s so cool to see how much we have in common. I love the sense of humor and how artistic we are!”
A working mother of two toddlers said that although she’s exhausted, it’s been a blessing to spend more time with her boys. She and her husband had been essentially weekend parents, so every 100 days of the quarantine has meant an extra year with their children.
In this year of upheaval, two men are grateful for how little their lives changed. Working at an essential business neither has lost his job, and so far their workplace has been COVID-free.
The pandemic inspired some people to grow their own food and others to simplify their lives, focusing on what they need over what they want in existential downsizings.
And COVID-19 has given an introvert a guilt-free excuse for declining invitations.
If there was ever a time we needed a sign that change is coming it’s now. And maybe we just witnessed one. The conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn was the most visible it’s been in 800 years. Was it a Star of Bethlehem, like the Magi saw, heralding the birth of a savior? Sadly, I don’t think we can wait for one person to save us. Astrologically, the conjunction marks the start of a new epoch. I hope it’s the epoch the human race learns to work together to heal the planet and ourselves.